4 Benefits of iPad Use for Administrators and Educators

I recently received a message from an administrator colleague who wanted to know how I use the iPad as an administrator. He was thinking about purchasing the device and was struggling with whether it would be a wise use of his money. I have been using the device for about four months now, and it is another tool in my educational device arsenal. The other tools include my two laptops and my Android phone. With these devices, I have been able to make technology fit more seamlessly into what I do as an administrator. I am continuing to explore ways to use the iPad in my role as an administrator. I will say at this point: It is not a replacement for a laptop and don’t think that is the intention of its manufacturer. So if administrators are thinking about purchasing iPads to replace laptops or desktop computers, I think they will miss the iPad’s true potential.

In an earlier blog post, I indicated that the iPad has provided me as an administrator with three main benefits. Those benefits continue to be true. With another two months of experimentation, I would now add a fourth benefit.

1. The iPad increases the level of my connectivity to my school staff and members in my Personal Learning Network. The iPad’s size allows me to take it easily into meetings and other events where a laptop isn’t practical and my Droid phone is too hard to manipulate. I can use apps such as Skype, Google Talk, Gmail, Google Calendar, Twitter, Linkedin, and Friendly for Facebook to remain connected to the teachers in my building and remain connected to my personal learning network.
2. The iPad increases my level of access to the cloud. By using apps like Dropbox, Go Docs, and Docs to Go I can access all documents related to my job anywhere I happen to be. Once I figure out how to get Cloud Printing to work, I think I can add another plus to this category.
3. The iPad makes it easier to access tools to manage my day-to-day activities. With Evernote’s app, I have access to my To-Do List anywhere. I also can use this app to make notes during meetings, and I use it to list morning announcements to be made. The access to Google Calendar also allows me to use the iPad to schedule events too.
4. The iPad e-reader apps allows me to carry professional reading with me where ever I go. I might also add enjoyment reading too, but we’ll omit that for the sake of productivity right now. By having the NOOK, iBook, and E-reader apps on my iPad, I can access professional reading anywhere without toting the books around. With the NOOK App and the iBook app, I can also upload those long PDF documents into libraries and access them from those apps too.

The iPad is now part of what I do on a daily basis. I carry it with me into meetings, when I’m walking around the building, and when I sitting in waiting rooms. While I would not necessarily advocate school systems spending money for blanket purchases of iPads for their administrators, especially in tight budget times, it can be a useful device for the school administrator. Getting one can be a wise investment.

My Previous Posts on iPads and Related Apps

3 Reasons an Administrator Needs an iPad

Ideas for Helping Administrators and All Educators Move to Being Paperless

Springpad: Educator Note Taking and Task Management System

5 Ways Administrators Can Use Evernote

Technorati Tags: iPad,School Leadership,Technology Leadership,School Administratio,Educational Technology

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Chrome Diigo Extension: Collect, Organize, Annotate & Share Web Resources

For almost 2 years, I have been using Chrome as my default browser. I enjoy its simplicity, its speed, and most of all the extensions that are available for it. Recently, Eric Sheninger posted “Chrome Extensions for Educators” on his blog, and he provides an excellent list of must have extensions that educators would find useful. He included my all time favorite in that list, The Diigo Extension. I have several Chrome Extensions installed, but this one is one that I use all day long every day.  It basically does four things that enhances a user’s ability to make use of all the information found on the web.

• It allows users to capture exact words, phrases, sentences, and passages for later reading or use. The Highlighter Tool places the words highlighted directly into the user’s My Library in Diigo.
  
• It allows users to instantly bookmark a site, then customize the bookmark for easier access later.
  
• It allows users to place digital sticky notes attached to the text being read.
  
• It allows users to easily share sites with others through Twitter, Facebook, Google Buzz, Email, or as an annotated link.

Highlighter Tool
The highlighter tool does the same thing to web pages that a conventional highlighter does to a printed page, with one major difference. When sentences of passages are highlighted with the Diigo Extension tool, these same items are then made available in a user’s “My Library” of his or her Diigo account. As an administrator who reads hundreds of web articles and posts in a given day, I use this tool frequently to capture an idea or passage that I plan to either examine more closely or use at a later time.  It is an easy way to capture text while reading online.

Chrome Diigo Extension Highlighter Allows Use of Colors

Bookmark Tool
The Diigo Chrome Extension Bookmark tool allows users to bookmark a page with the click of the button. As you can see below, it gives users a dialogue box which allows them to either share the bookmark or keep it private. They can write a brief description of the site being bookmarked, and can add tags for easier search access. They can also add the bookmark to their personal bookmark lists and share it with one of the groups to which they belong. The Chrome Extension Bookmark Tool is now an integral part of my web reading because it makes so easy to bookmark resources.

Chrome Diigo Extension Bookmark Input Box

Sticky Note Tool

The Sticky Note Tool allows users to attach digital sticky notes to portions of text in an online article. I use this feature to capture my thoughts about portions of text as I read, or just to attach a reminder about an idea while reading the text. These annotations are also made visible from the user’s Diigo account.

Chrome Diigo Extension Sticky Note Feature

Share Tool
This Chrome Diigo Extension tool allows users to easily share found resources on Twitter, Facebook, Google Buzz, through email, or as annotated link. I find it so easy to share resources on Twitter, Facebook, and in an email using this tool. It auto-shortens long URLs too.

Chrome Diigo Extension Share Tool Interface

The Chrome Diigo Extension is a must-have collection of tools for any one who reads and gathers a great deal of content from the web. It’s four main tools enhances a user’s ability to gather information from web sites, bookmark those sites, add annotations to those sites, then share them with others through social media and email.

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